Wenger admitted Arsenal were guilty of sitting back and defending Rosicky's early strike but says Koscielny and Mertesacker thoroughly deserved to finish on the winning side.

Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny celebrated wildly at the end with the travelling fans and posted a "selfie" online after sneaking his phone onto the bench in case the visitors won.

Wenger added: "We got the early goal and after that it was a bit of a mixture. The early goal influenced the way we played too much.

"The centre-halves were exceptional for the whole game, like they were at Bayern in midweek. We needed to be on top because Adebayor was sharp, up for it like he always is against us. He had a great game and overall we needed a good defensive performance.

"Tomas' goal will go in my collection of great goals. I told Tomas that because first of all he is not a typical goal-scorer. He surprised everyone. We had no time to even realise what he was doing and it was in the back of the net. It was an unbelievable goal."

Rosicky added: "It means so much. It's one of the best of my career because it was at Tottenham. It's a great race for us, the fans as well and I think it will go right to the end."